Mark Torpey is the sports editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger, and this is our all-sports blog. Use it as a jumping off point for our sport-specific blogs on Boston pro teams, or stay right here and talk about high school and college
...

Mark Torpey is the sports editor of The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger, and this is our all-sports blog. Use it as a jumping off point for our sport-specific blogs on Boston pro teams, or stay right here and talk about high school and college sports and other topics.

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May 15, 2013
12:01 a.m.

Up to last night it seemed that that John Lackey has undergone a “metamorphosis” worthy of Kafka - seemingly changing from a cantankerous ingrate (think: Josh Beckett) to a friendly guy who can’t stop smiling (think: Gomer Pyle) this year.

This change is not only reflective in his public persona - he is actually coming across as a different pitcher. That isn’t to say that I saw much of Lackey before he joined the Red Sox, but during his tenure in Boston he never seemed able to put a batter away when he had two-strikes (or less).

Whether this season is tied to a change in his mental state or to his enhanced conditioning or to the fact that his elbow feels good more than a year after Tommy John surgery, the resurrection of John Lackey has been a bright spot for his club.

Going into last night’s game with the Rays, Lackey was sporting a bad luck 1 and 3 record to go with a 2.82 ERA. While he had only thrown 22+ innings so far, there has been much more bite to his breaking pitches and a little something extra on his fastball. Never a big accumulator of strike-outs, Lackey was averaging more than one punch-out per inning.

Heading out on their longest road trip of the young season, it would have been a big lift for the scuffling Sox if Lackey could match or better Tampa ace Matt Moore because he is the bridge to Lester and Buchholz. The Sox had a chance to set the tone for the next 9-games (and maybe the season) with a win, but they could not get it done. Lackey did not pitch a terrible game, but he was gone in the decisive fifth inning, victimized by the plethora of hits and a misplayed pop-up that Mike Napoli lost in the roof of Tropicana Field.

Granted, this was not as important a start as Lackey had during his halcyon days when he won the World Series with the Angels, but this is the kind of opportunity that a pitcher has to embrace to help his team. The Sox needed Lackey to step up and pitch to the competition. Clearly his teammates didn’t exactly support him at the plate after Papi’s three-run homer in the top of the 1st or in the field (given Napoli’s miscue) – but staked to a 3 – 0 lead in a game that was psychologically important for his club, Lackey has to get the job done cleanly.

If the Sox continue their slide towards mediocrity it will be interesting to see if angry Lackey makes a comeback.